| Creating Custom Covers |
This page contains diagrams with guide measurements that can be helpful for designing book covers or jackets. All measurements and dimensions are in inches.
The first diagram is for a cover jacket (the dust jacket that can be added to hardcover books), the second diagram is for a softcover book, and the third diagram is for a book with a photo hard cover.
The cover diagrams contain numbered red and green vertical lines. The divided sections are labeled Front Cover and Back Cover as well as a Front Flap and Back Flap on the Cover Jackets. Please note that on a hardcover book, both flaps will be folded inside the cover as with any other dust jacket. The red lines represent the trim marks where the page will be cut to size. (See the explanation of "bleed" below.) The green lines represent the folds, or "scores", where the cover will be fitted to the book. The table below contains measurements from the left edge of the book to each numbered vertical line listed as a numbered edge in the table.
Templates allow enough options and adjustments that you should be able to design a cover without sizing your photo in a different program in advance. However, to achieve optimum fit of your photo to the cover, you might consider preparing an image that will fit your cover. To do this, find the size of book you plan to make in the diagrams below, and create an image with the cover height and cover width listed next to that book. After you create the image, we recommend you save it with the prefix "000" to maintain the cover photo’s position as the first photo in the photo folder and the suffix ".jpg" to ensure it is a JPG image. For example, you cover photo might be named "000-MyPhotos.jpg". If you are using the auto-fill layout feature, the files will load into the album in alphanumeric order, and the first image will be used for the cover. Naming your cover file this way will cause it to be used as the cover image and preserve any subsequent page numbering. To maximize the image area so that it spans the entirety of the cover, use the full-bleed template for the cover when you create your book.
Please remember that all measurements take a bleed into account. A bleed is an extension of the image over the cutting edge of the page so that there is no white space around the edges when the cover is trimmed to size. If you crop your images in advance using another program, keep in mind that any content placed within the bleed area of the page will be trimmed off. If you select a photo cover for your book, the bleed edge will be folded around the edge of the cover board to create a seamless cover image effect, which means the edges of the image will be lost.
We recommend keeping any text or images at least inch away from the bleed edges, scores and spine. The "safe areas" are represented as blue boxes in the diagrams below. Please try to keep your text and images within these blue boxes. That is not to say that the "unsafe areas" must remain white or unused; your cover image may span the entirety of the cover, but there is a possibility that any text or images you put near the edges, scores or spine may look odd or end up on the fold when the cover is cut and folded around the book.
|
| Cover Jacket (Hard Cover & Leather Cover) |
 |
| Bleed: |
| 1/8 inch all around (bleed included in the following measurments). |
| Cover: |
Height: Page height plus 1/4 inch.
Width: Page width plus 5/16 inch. |
| Spine: |
Height: Page height plus 1/4 inch.
Width: 1/2 inch. |
| Flap: |
Height: Page height plus 1/4 inch.
Width: Half page width minus 1/4 inch. |
| Score: |
Height: Page height plus 1/4 inch.
Width:1/4 inch. |
|
|
| |
Book Format |
Book Size |
Cover Width |
|
Cover Height |
Edge-1 |
Edge-2 |
Edge-3 |
Edge-4 |
Edge-5 |
Edge-6 |
Edge-7 |
Edge-8 |
| Medium |
Square |
5 x 5 |
16 |
x |
5.375 |
0.125 |
2.313 |
2.563 |
7.75 |
8.25 |
13.438 |
13.688 |
15.875 |
| |
Portrait |
6 x 9 |
19.376 |
x |
9.5 |
0.125 |
2.875 |
3.125 |
9.438 |
9.938 |
16.251 |
16.501 |
19.251 |
| |
Landscape |
9 x 6 |
28.376 |
x |
6.5 |
0.125 |
4.375 |
4.625 |
13.938 |
14.438 |
23.751 |
24.001 |
28.251 |
| |
Square |
8 x 8 |
25.376 |
x |
8.5 |
0.125 |
23.875 |
4.125 |
12.438 |
12.938 |
21.251 |
21.501 |
25.251 |
| Large |
Portrait |
8 x 12 |
25.376 |
x |
12.5 |
0.125 |
3.875 |
4.125 |
12.438 |
12.938 |
21.251 |
21.501 |
25.251 |
| |
Landscape |
12 x 8 |
37.376 |
x |
8.5 |
0.125 |
5.875 |
6.125 |
18.438 |
18.938 |
31.251 |
31.501 |
37.251 |
| |
Square |
10 x 10 |
31.376 |
x |
10.5 |
0.125 |
4.875 |
5.125 |
15.438 |
15.938 |
26.251 |
26.501 |
31.251 |
| Giant |
Square |
12 x 12 |
37.376 |
x |
12.5 |
0.125 |
5.875 |
6.125 |
18.438 |
18.938 |
31.251 |
31.501 |
37.251 |
| |
Portrait |
10 x 15 |
31.376 |
x |
15.5 |
0.125 |
4.875 |
5.125 |
15.438 |
15.938 |
26.251 |
26.501 |
31.251 |
| |
Landscape |
15 x 10 |
46.376 |
x |
10.5 |
0.125 |
7.375 |
7.625 |
22.938 |
23.438 |
38.75 |
39 |
46.25 |
|
| Soft Cover |
 |
| Bleed: |
Top/Bottom: 1/4 inch.
Left/Right: 1/8 inch.
(Bleed included in the following measurments) |
| Cover: |
Height: Page height plus 1/2 inch.
Width: Page width plus 1/4 inch. |
| Spine: |
Height: Page height plus 1/2 inch.
Width: 1/8 inch. |
|
|
| |
Book Format |
Book Size |
Cover Width |
|
Cover Height |
Edge-1 |
Edge-2 |
Edge-3 |
Edge-4 |
| Small |
Square |
3.5 x 3.5 |
7.625 |
x |
4 |
0.125 |
3.75 |
3.875 |
7.5 |
| |
Portrait |
4 x 6 |
8.625 |
x |
6.5 |
0.125 |
4.25 |
4.375 |
8.5 |
| |
Landscape |
6 x 4 |
12.625 |
x |
4.5 |
0.125 |
6.25 |
6.375 |
12.5 |
| Medium |
Square |
5 x 5 |
10.625 |
x |
5.5 |
0.125 |
5.25 |
5.375 |
10.5 |
| |
Portrait |
6 x 9 |
12.625 |
x |
9.5 |
0.125 |
6.25 |
6.375 |
12.5 |
| |
Landscape |
9 x 6 |
18.625 |
x |
6.5 |
0.125 |
9.25 |
9.375 |
18.5 |
| |
Square |
8 x 8 |
16.625 |
x |
8.5 |
0.125 |
8.25 |
8.375 |
16.5 |
| Large |
Portrait |
8 x 12 |
16.625 |
x |
12.5 |
0.125 |
8.25 |
8.375 |
16.5 |
| |
Landscape |
12 x 8 |
24.625 |
x |
8.5 |
0.125 |
12.25 |
12.375 |
24.5 |
| |
Square |
10 x 10 |
20.625 |
x |
10.5 |
0.125 |
10.25 |
10.375 |
20.5 |
|
| Photo Hard Cover |
 |
| Bleed: |
| 3/4 inch all around (bleed included in the following measurments). |
| Cover: |
Height: Page height plus 1.75 inches.
Width: Page width plus 1.125 inches. |
| Spine: |
Height: Page height plus 1.75 inches.
Width: 1/4 inch. |
|
|
| |
Book Format |
Book Size |
Cover Width |
|
Cover Height |
Edge-1 |
Edge-2 |
Edge-3 |
Edge-4 |
| Medium |
Square |
5 x 5 |
12.5 |
x |
6.75 |
0.75 |
6.125 |
6.375 |
11.75 |
| |
Portrait |
6 x 9 |
14.5 |
x |
10.75 |
0.75 |
7.125 |
7.375 |
13.75 |
| |
Landscape |
9 x 6 |
20.5 |
x |
7.75 |
0.75 |
10.125 |
10.375 |
19.75 |
| |
Square |
8 x 8 |
18.5 |
x |
9.75 |
0.75 |
9.125 |
9.375 |
17.75 |
| Large |
Portrait |
8 x 12 |
18.5 |
x |
13.75 |
0.75 |
9.125 |
9.375 |
17.75 |
| |
Landscape |
12 x 8 |
26.5 |
x |
9.75 |
0.75 |
13.125 |
13.375 |
25.75 |
| |
Square |
10 x 10 |
22.5 |
x |
11.75 |
0.75 |
11.125 |
11.375 |
21.75 |
| Giant |
Square |
12 x 12 |
26.5 |
x |
13.75 |
0.75 |
13.125 |
13.375 |
25.75 |
| |
Portrait |
10 x 15 |
22.5 |
x |
16.75 |
0.75 |
11.125 |
11.375 |
21.75 |
| |
Landscape |
15 x 10 |
32.5 |
x |
11.75 |
0.75 |
16.125 |
16.375 |
31.75 |
|